Review of Give a Girl a Break

Certainly not as major a a combined financial and critical success or as familiar to the millennium public as are the iconic 1933 42nd STREET or the 1975 A CHORUS LINE on the same subject, its commercial release apparently started out with bad luck when MGM refused to give it a class A promotion or first run theater distribution. The considerable talents of Ira Gershwin and Stanley Donen showcase the considerable talents of Marge Champion, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Fosse and Gower Champion in a story making the final candidates to hastily replace the name star quitting mid rehearsal a classical ballerina, a faded former star performer and a scared novice with an overbearing mother, each the fantasy girl friend of someone having influence in determining the replacement casting. This meld of extraordinary talents showcases the historic dilemma of which dance direction professional musicals should take in the changing times of the 1950's. It does not fend off continuous barbs of an 82 minute show borrowing from ZIEGFELD GIRL, ON THE TOWN,and too many other more famous and more successful films.